The Ceylon Defence Force (CDF) was established in 1910 by the Ceylonese legislation Ceylon Defence Force Ordinance, which reformed the Ceylon Volunteer Force (CVF) that existed previously as the military reserve in the British Crown colony of Ceylon. At the time of forming it was only a reserve force but soon developed into a regular force responsible for the defence of Ceylon. The CDF was under the command of the General Officer Commanding, Ceylon of the British Army in Ceylon if mobilised. However mobilisation could be carried out only under orders from the Governor.
Major General Deshabandu Bertram Russell Heyn was a Sri Lankan general and cricketer. He was a former Commander of the Ceylon Army.
General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon from 1953 to 1956.
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972. In 2010, the Army had approximately 200,000 regular personnel, between 20,000 and 40,000 reserve (volunteer) personnel and 18,000 National Guardsmen and comprises 13 divisions, one air-mobile brigade, one commando brigade, one special forces brigade, one independent armored brigade, three mechanized infantry brigades and over 40 infantry brigades.
General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) located at Kandawala, Ratmalana, Colombo, is state defense university of Sri Lanka which is administered by the Ministry of Defense.
The Corp of Sri Lanka Engineers (SLE) is a combat support arm of the Sri Lanka Army which provides military engineering. It is made up of ten regular regiments and one volunteer regiment. Headquartered at Panagoda Cantonment, it is headed by the Centre Commandant.
The Commander of the Army is the title of the professional head of the Sri Lanka Army. The current Commander of the Army is Lt. General Vikum Liyanage.
General Deshamanya Don Sepala Attygalle, was a Sri Lankan army general, civil servant and diplomat. The longest serving Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (1967–1977), he went on to serve as the Permanent secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Naval and Maritime Academy (NMA), Trincomalee, is the naval academy of the Sri Lanka Navy, and is located within SLN Dockyard, Trincomalee. It received university status in 2001 under the leadership of Commodore SR Samaratunga.
General Deshamanya Joseph Everard Denis Perera, VSV, FCMI was a senior Sri Lanka Army general who served as Commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 1977 to 1981. He was also the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ceylon Tobacco Company and Chancellor of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University. He envisioned for a women's corps in the army which resulted in the creation of the Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps in 1979.
The 1962 Ceylonese coup d'état attempt was a failed military coup d'état planned in Ceylon. A group of Christian officers in the military and police planned to topple the government of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike during the night of 27 January 1962. Organised by Colonel F. C. de Saram, Colonel Maurice De Mel,, Rear Admiral Royce de Mel, C.C. Dissanayake, Sydney de Zoysa and Douglas Liyanage, it was to take place in the night of 27 January 1962, but was called off as the government gained information in the afternoon and initiated arrests of the suspected coup leaders before the coup was carried out.
General Tissa Indraka Weeratunga, VSV was a Sri Lankan general. He was the former Commander of the Sri Lankan Army and the first General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Joint Operations Headquarters (JOH), he was later Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Canada.
Major General Anton Muttukumaru, OBE, ED, ADC was the first native Ceylonese to serve as the Commander of the Ceylon Army, a post he held from 1955 to 1959. He also served as Ceylon's High Commissioner to Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Ambassador to Egypt.
General Ganegoda Appuhamelage Don Granville Nalin Seneviratne, VSV was a Sri Lankan Army general. He was the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 1985 to 1988 and first Governor of the North East Province.
General is the highest attainable and full general rank of the Sri Lankan Army and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of general; it is also considered a four-star rank.
General Officer Commanding, Ceylon was the designation of the General Officer appointed to command all British Army units stationed in the island of Ceylon during the British colonial administration of the island.
Major General Hemachandra Wickrama Gerard Wijeyekoon, OBE, ED was a Sri Lankan military leader and diplomat. He was the second Ceylonese Commander of the Ceylon Army from 1960 to 1963 and formerly Ceylon's High Commissioner to Pakistan and Ambassador to Italy.
The 1908 Birthday Honours for the British Empire were announced on 28 June, to celebrate the birthday of Edward VII.
Ceylonese recipients of British titles conferred on the advice of Her Majesty's Ceylon Ministers. This list includes all those who were born in, worked in or lived in Ceylon.
General Gerard Hector "Gerry" de Silva, RWP, VSV, USP was a senior Sri Lanka Army officer. He is the 5th Chancellor of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University since 20 January 2020. He was the 13th Commander of the Sri Lankan Army and Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Pakistan.
